-Originally aired April 10, 1982.
-Your hosts are Lance Russell & Dave Brown.
-So, uh, we’re five days past the Jerry Lawler/Andy Kaufman match…and this is how I’m finding out that the Andy Kaufman stuff aired ONLY in Memphis and it was entirely edited out of the syndicated version of the show. The thought never crossed my mind, but asking around, it turns out it actually makes a bit of sense. Kaufman initially appeared ONLY in Memphis, and the syndicated show was specifically edited to promote only angles that would lead to house show matches in the city where the episode was airing, so there is no acknowledgment of anything that happened in Mid-South Coliseum.
-The Midnight Express is out here and they’re wondering why they don’t have the Southern Tag Team Title belts, and they think it’s because they’re too violent and they’ve left the champs bloody messes in non-title matches already.
MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (with Norvell Austin) vs. ERIC EMBRY & RICK MCCORD
-Randy Rose knees Embry and Embry seems to…not notice? So he just runs past Rose, then seems to realize Rose did a spot, so he just stops and they stare at each other. And we’re off and running now…
-Condrey tags in and chokes Embry out, then brings Rose back in for an elbow that connects and is also sold, so the momentum is picking up. Powerslam by Rose gets two. McCord tags in and gets backdropped. Decapitator by the Express gets the win.
DUTCH MANTELL vs. GYPSY JOE
-Mantell seems to be back to full babyface now that he’s settled the feud with Lawler, and the fans seem satisfied with that and are cheering him with no reservations.
-Joe uses the hair to get Mantell on the mat, then rams him into the turnbuckle. And BTW, it turns out this is a very special week of Memphis Wrestling, because at long last, making its debut on this week’s episode: an apron for the ring. Out of a very long list of things, that was singularly the detail that made this territory look dirt-cheap and the ring actually finally looks kind of nice.
-Slam and an elbow by Dutch gets the three-count, with Joe’s shoulders decisively pinned to the nicely-aproned mat.
-And then we have another weird moment where everybody hustles in and out of the ring and we go straight to the next match.
JERRY “The King” LAWLER (Southern Heavyweight Champion, with Danny Davis) vs. ERNIE KIRKLAND
-Kirkland shoves Lawler. Lawler punches him in the face and pins him.
-We head to the Mid-South Coliseum for highlights of a match pitting Robert Gibson & Steve Keirn against Bobby Eaton & Sweet Brown Sugar. Bill Dundee is wandering around ringside but he’s acting coy about if he has actual medical clearance to do anything. Ricky Gibson is at ringside too in his brother’s corner. J.R. Hart attacks Ricky Gibson. Gibson gives him chase but gets blinded by some kind of chemical. Dundee tries to help, but Bobby calls his bluff and attacks the shoulder to leave Dundee in a heap. Keirn gets laid out too. Robert Gibson is alone in the ring, and the 2-on-1 battle is too much for him and he’s rendered a bloody mess, and by the time Ricky has gotten the chemical cleared out of his own eyes, Robert is just beyond help, so Ricky throws in the towel. What sticks out at me is that the Mid-South Coliseum crowd just flatly does not seem to give a shit about any of this.
NORVELL AUSTIN vs. ROY ROGERS
-Austin punches and knees Rogers. Backbreaker by Austin and a big headbutt appears to finish, but Rogers barely gets a foot over the ropes. Austin slams Rogers down but misses an elbow drop. Rogers starts making a big comeback with chops and “half a dropkick,” but Dennis Condrey comes to his partner’s rescue and gets the DQ for it. Dutch Mantell comes to the rescue, which brings out Randy Rose, and with Rogers still sprawled out, it’s Dutch vs. all three Midnights…until Jerry Lawler shows up to even the sides! Audience comes unglued as Lawler & Dutch work together to clear the ring. Jerry offers the Mega-Powers handshake to Dutch, and Dutch shoves him right on his ass!
-Dutch goes to the commentary table and makes it clear that he doesn’t need Lawler’s help, and Lawler had better stay away from him. Also, Roy Rogers is slowly coming back to life after his ass-kicking, and Dutch just goes ahead and declares that Roy is his friend, Roy is on his side, and they’re going to be a team from now on.
THE MONK (with Jimmy Hart) vs. DAVID PRICE
-Monk attacks Price with Bart & Lisa-style windmill punches, and a splash gives Monk the win in under a minute.
-We get a pre-taped segment with Jimmy Hart and The Monk. Monk is saddled working curtain-jerker matches with David Price and Kent McCord because Steve Keirn and Jerry Lawler have been begging Eddie Marlin for protection from this brute. So Jimmy Hart went to Eddie Marlin and demanded a title match for the Monk, or else Hart AND all of his men are leaving the Memphis territory, and that’s so much star power that Marlin buckled and gave him a title shot. Monk does a Stupid Human Trick to finish up, applying a side headlock on a basketball and deflating it.
-We get a Superstar Bill Dundee music video, set to “Blue Skies” by Willie Nelson. A soft-spoken Dundee adds a few words, promising revenge for his mangled shoulder.
EXPIRATION OF TIME: DANNY DAVIS & STAN LANE vs. SWEET BROWN SUGAR & BEAUTIFUL BOBBY EATON (with Jimmy Hart & J.R. Hart)
-FALL ONE: A chuck of the clock says there’s just no time left at all, so there’s a why-bother feeling here from the word go. Lane works the arm of Sugar. Everybody tags and we get the same great spot we got last week, with Davis getting whipped into the ropes and just turning it into a plancha on Jimmy Hart. But THIS time, in a nice follow-up, J.R. Hart expected him to do that, so he smacks Davis with a chair and knocks him out, and Eaton knocks him even outer with a concealed weapon to get the three-count.
-Stan Lane attempts a brawl with Sugar, Eaton, and the Harts after the bell, and grabs a chair as an equalizer, so the First Family gets out of there.
